1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a swimming pool debris collection trap for separating debris from pool water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is relatively easy to separate and collect light debris suspended in or floating upon the surface of pool water. Typically, the suspended debris is separated upon passage of the water through a pool filter, while the floating debris collects in a skimmer basket into which it is carried by wind and water currents. Such a skimmer basket is relatively easily removable for emptying.
However, often the skimmer basket is of low capacity or is ineffective to catch all of the debris, and a strainer or pump basket is provided to protect the pump from debris not trapped by the skimmer basket. Removal of the pump basket for emptying is not easily done. Because the pump basket housing is exposed to atmospheric pressure, a cover must be provided to prevent air entry into the pump system. The fact that the cover must be tightly closed or dogged down each time it is removed complicates the task of emptying the pump basket, and the small capacity of such a pump basket requires that it be cleaned out relatively frequently.
Heavier, non-floating debris such as sand, seed pods and water soaked leaves is not as easily separated. Various kinds of collection traps have been designed to collect this kind of debris, including leaf baskets located over the main drain, leaf bags associated with pool suction cleaners, and leaf bags or collection containers carried by pool cleaners driven by water pressure over the pool surfaces. These traps are in addition to the pump and skimmer baskets employed to collect light debris.
A system is disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 07/428,362, filed Oct. 30, 1989 for "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING SEDIMENT FROM A POOL" which eliminates any need for a plurality of baskets and traps, and particularly any need for a separate pump basket. Instead, one relatively large capacity, easily serviceable collection trap is provided for the collection of both light and heavy debris. It is also characterized by submergence of the debris collection container cap so that sealing clamps and the like are not necessary to prevent air entry into the pump system.
The system utilizes a combination of specially located rotatable and non-rotatable nozzles acting in concert to move the heavy debris through a relatively large main drain and into a leaf receiving means for retaining the leaves and passing the accompanying water.